The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $50 million loan towards the construction of a satellite to boost communications in Africa's rural areas, the bank said.
The venture will provide several telecoms services including international telephone calls and internet connections and permit radio, television, and multimedia broadcast reception in each country, AfDB's chief investment officer Hassan Farah said.
Eighty-five percent of Africans live in rural areas, the bank said. Africa accounts for only 3.4 percent of global internet users and 3.2 percent of the world's computers. The venture, involving 45 countries grouped in an organisation called the Regional African Satelite Communications Organisation Members (RASCOM), will extend telephone cover in rural areas and provide cheaper pan-African interconnectivity for African telecom operators, compared to charges levied by existing service providers.